Operating attachment for foldable brackets



Jan. 26, 1932. H. ANDERSON 1,842,954

OPERATING ATTACHMENT FOR FOLDABLE BRACKETS Filed Nov. 20, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 1 LA 5% wxa-Wzw? awry/.504 @m ay m Jan. 26, 1932. HQANDEgsOI 1,342,954

OPERATING ATTACHMENT FOR FOLDABLE BRACKETS Filed Nov. 20, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 gaff/ii? 4/VHZKS'U/V 5/ I Patented Jan. 26, 1932 g -fHARRISON ANDERSON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA OPERATING ATTACHMENT FORroLnAB E nRncKETs V Application filed November 20,1928. Serial No.320,649.

My invention has reference tofoldable brackets for supporting'hingedtable leaves, shelves, and the like in extended position where thebracket is normally ffolded when the leaf or shelf is folded, but whichis moved to an extended position by and when the leaf or shelf is movedto extended position, and in which position the bracket is made rigid tofirmly support the leaf or shelf in 1 extended position. With bracketsof this character it is necessary, in practice, to reach beneaththe leafor shelf and exert considerable pressure manually to break the joint ofthe bracket, before it can be collapsed to allow folding of the leaf orshelf.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide what may be termed anattachment to any bracket operable in the manner above described, andbymeans of-which the necessity is eliminated of collapsing the bracket byextendingthe hand beneath the leaf or shelf, and permitting suchcollapse by slight-pressure of the finger on the attachment,-,which maybe performed simultaneously with grip- 2'5 ping of the leaf or shelf inlowering the latter to folded position. 7

I will describe only three forms of operating attachments and one formof actuating means for foldable brackets all embodying 2730 myinvention, and will then point out the novel featuresthereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings: I Figure 1 is a view showing inside'elevation a hinged table leaf and a foldable bracket thereforhaving applied to the latter one form of operating attachment for thebracket embodying my invention; 1

, Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken onthe line 22 ofFig. 1

Fig. 3 is a view showing in p rspective the attachment illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing two foldablexbrackets :of thetype shown in Fig. '1 and an'attachment for simultaneously operating,both-of the brackets and embodying myinvention; V

i 1 Fig.5 is a perspectiveview on a reduced scale showing in detail theoperating attach ment as shown in Fig. 4;; 1 6

Fig. dis a view similar to Fig. 1 showing connected to a plate 22 bymeans of a pivot pin 21.

supporting the leaf 17 in horizontal position. i

a different form of foldable bracket applied to atable leaf, and anotherform of operating attachment for the bracket embodying my invention; a r

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing v one form of actuating meansembodying my invention for and applied to the operating attachment shownin Fig. 1; V

Fig. 8 is a View showing the actuatin means in bottom plan and appliedto the op- 6 crating attachment of Figs. 1 and 7; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the actuating means appliedto the form of operating attachment shown in Fig. .6.

' Similar reference characters refer to sim- 65 ilar parts in each ofthe several views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, and particularly. to Fig. 1, Ihave. here shown a conventional form of table including a base 15,.a top16, and a leaf 17 connected to the top 16 by means of a hinge 18 so asto be movable to the extended position shown froma vertically foldedposition; The leaf 17 is firmly held in the extended position bymeans'of a conventional form of foldable bracket. This bracket, in thepresent instance, is shown as comprising a long arm 19 connected to thetable base 15 by a hinged connection'20, and a short arm 21 pivotallyThe plate 22 in turn is secured to theunderside of the leaf 17. Theopposite end of the arm 21 is pivotally connected to the long arm 19 bya knuckle or joint 23.

The knuckle 23 is of the type that limits movement of the arms 19 and 21from a folded position to an extended position in which the armsarelongitudinally aligned so that they coact to form a rigid arm for firmlyThe arms are 1 held in this aligned position by means'of a spring 24connected tothe arms by pin extensions 25, as clearly illustrated inFig. 2. Breaking of the joint to allow collapsing. of the arms may beeffected by. downward nmvement of either arm through exertion ofsuflicient downward pressure or pull to overcome the tension of thespring 24:. To accomplish this collapsingor foldingvof the bracket, itis necessary to extend the hand beneath the leaf 17 and xertconsiderable downward pull or pressure on either arm 19 and 21,preferably the latter.

The attachment forming the subject matter of my invention is shown inFig. 3 as comprising a single lever designated generally at L andconsisting of an attenuated base 26 provided at its longitudinal edgeswith upstanding ears 27 having registering openings 28 through which thepivot pin 21 extends for pivotally supporting the lever as a unit on theplate 22. The base 26 is formed with a slot 29 to accommodate the arm21, and to permit the lever to engage the arm beyond the pin 21 in orderthat when the outer end of the lever is pressed upwardly from theposition shown in Fig. 1 its inner end will press the arm 21 downwardlyand thus efiect a breaking of the joint 23 to allow collapsing of thebracket.

By reference to Fig. 1, it will be evident that the outer end of thelever L is disposed beneath and adjacent the outer edge of the leaf 17so that one, in gripping the leaf, can extend a finger into engagementwith the lever and by forcing the latter upwardly, as described,collapsing of the bracket will be effected to permit lowering of theleaf to vertical position. The mounting of the lever L in no wayinterferes with movement of the bracket arms to extended position, andit will, of course, be understood that the bracket is moved to extendedposition simultaneously with movement of the leaf to horizontalposition.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, I have here shown another form ofoperating attachment embodying my invention which is designed forapplication to a pair of brackets of the same construction as thebracket shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 4, which is a view similar to Fig. 2,the brackets are shown applied to the leaf 17 in the same manner. Theyare spaced from each other, however, to effectively support the leaf inextended position. The attachment is shown as comprising a lever Lformed of sheet metal or any other suitable material, and constructed atits ends to provide fingers 30 and ears 31, the ears being mounted onthe pivot pins 21 of the two brackets so that the lever is supported forpivotal movement about its longitudinal axis. The fingers 30 arepositioned to engage the arms 21 so that b I exertin u ward ressure withthe finger on a medial extension 32 of the lever, the lever can berocked to cause the fingers to exert a downward pressure on the arms 21and thereby efiect collapsing of both brackets simultaneously deferringnow to Fig. 6, I have here shown another form of foldable bracket inassociation with a hinged shelf 33. This bracket comprises a pair ofarms 34 and 35 hingedly connected by brackets 36 and 37 to the shelfsupport 38 and shelf 33, respectively. The arms 34 and 35 are hingedlyconnected to each other by a joint 39 of such construction as to permitupward folding of the arms as distinguished from the downward folding ofthe arms of the bracket shown in Fig. 1.

For collapsing this bracket I provide an attachment in the form of alever L fulcrumed on a bracket 40, the latter being secured to the underside of the shelf The mounting of the lever L is such that its in nerend is in engagement with the arm 35 so that by exerting a downwardpressure on the outer end of the lever the arm 35 will be forcedupwardly, effecting a collapse of the bracket to allow the shelf 33 tobe lowered to folded position.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown substantially the same operatingattachment illustrated in Fig. 1 disposed remotely with respect to theouter edge of the table leaf 17 so as not to be conveniently withinreach of one operating the attachment. To conveniently operate theattachment when so positioned I provide an actuating means whichcomprises a rod 41 secured at one end in the end 26 of the attachment Lwhich end is downturned as illustrated. The opposite end of the rod 41is secured within the downward end 42 of a lever 43 fulcrumed on abracket 44 secured to the underside of the leaf 17 so as to dispose theouter end of the lever adjacent the outer edge of the leaf and thuswithin convenient reach of the operator.

By forcing the outer end of the lever 43 upwardly, the lever is rockedto exert a longitudinal pull on the rod 41 which actuates the attachmentL to break the joint of the foldable bracket and thus cause the latterto collapse and permit lowering of the leaf.'

to the form of lever and foldable bracket shown in Fig. 6. In thisembodiment, the lever L is formed with an upturned end 45 to which theinner end of the rod 41 is secured so that when the rod is movedoutwardly by operation of the lever 43 the lever L will be moved tobreak the joint upwardly and cause the bracket to collapse.

It will be manifest from the construction and operation of the actuatingmeans in respect to the two forms of bracket operating attachments thatprovision is made for collapsing either form of bracket from the outeredge of the leaf or shelf where either bracket is applied to a leaf orshelf is of such width that without the actuating means the lever L or Lcan be reached only by extending the armbeneath the shelf or leaf, itbeing understood that the rod 41 may be varied in length to meet thedemands in various installations.

Although I have herein shown and dements and one form of actuating meansfor foldable brackets embodying my invention,

it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade herein without departing from the spirit of the invention and thespirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

7 1. In combination, a member hinged to swing downwardly from anextended position to a folded position, a foldable bracket for rigidlysupporting the member in extended position when extended and movable toa collapsed position to allow folding of the member, manually operablemeansfor collapsing the bracket comprising an element pivoted soas to bemovable and exert a pressure against the bracket, a rod connected to theelement, and a lever connected to the rod and pivoted on the under sideof the member for actuating the rod so as to move the element.

2. As an article of manufacture, an operating attachment for leaf orshelf brackets capable of being folded to allow folding of the leaf orshelf, comprising a lever fulcrumed to move and exert an upward pressure from beneath against the bracket to cause collapsing of the latter,a rod connected to the lever, and a second lever connected to the rodfor actuating the first lever through the rod.

3. As an article of manufacture, an operating attachment for leaf orshelf brackets capable of being folded to allow folding of the leaf orshelf, comprising a lever fulcrumed to move and exert an upward pressurefrom beneath against the bracket to cause collapsing of thelatter, and asecond lever operatively connected to the first lever to actuatethe'latter from a remote point.

4. In combination, a support, a leaf hinged on the support to swingupward from a vertically folded position to a horizontal extendedposition, a bracket for supporting the leaf in extended position,comprising arms pivotally connected to each other and to the support andleaf to occupy extended positions when the leaf is in extended position,and a lever mounted on the leaf so that one end thereof has slidingcontact with one of the arms and the other end so positioned inreference to the leaf, whereby the lever can be operated to move saidarm and thus collapse the bracket to folded position; v

vFnigned at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, this 3d day of November, A. D. 1928.

HARRISON ANDERSON.

